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Funding Source:

Deadline Date:

Description:

Grants and in-kind donations to USA nonprofits for programs that will enhance the lives of children and families. Funding may be awarded to programs in the areas of hunger, housing, healthcare, and education. Priority will be given to programs serving women and children.

All programs should take place in an area where the funding source operates. Support is provided in the form of monetary gifts, gift cards, and merchandise in-kind. Significant partnership projects and capital requests are by invitation only.

Priority is given to projects that:
- Have a Big Lots associate involved as a board member, board committee member, or key volunteer;
- Support needy families, helping them transition from poverty to self-sufficiency;
- Come from organizations with strong fiscal management and board member commitment and involvement

Gifts outside of these criteria are considered on a case-by-case basis, such as grant awards for environmental causes, diversity, or the arts.

GrantWatch ID#:

Eligibility:

Additional Eligibility Criteria:

To be eligible to apply, an organization must:
- Be a 501(c)3 public nonprofit charity as sanctioned by the IRS;
- Serve areas where the funding source operates stores (across the United States), distribution centers (Columbus, OH; Tremont, PA; Durant, OK; Montgomery, AL; Rancho Cucamonga, CA), or the corporate office (Columbus, Ohio);
- Not exhibit discriminatory behavior or practices

Requests from individuals, families, and other sources will not be accepted.

Not Funded:
- Organizations that are not 501(c)3 public charities
- Individuals, for any purpose (e.g. hardship, illness, scholarship)
- Political candidates, committees, or organizations
- Athletes, teams, sporting events or tournaments of any kind, including charity golf tournaments
- Fraternal, labor, social, or veteran organizations
- Churches and religious sectarian enhance, with the exception of those that have an outreach program that benefits the whole community
- Non-academic educational activities such as bands, choirs, proms, after-proms, graduations, etc.
- Individual K-12 schools and public service agencies such as police and fire departments
- Organizations that spend more than 20% of their revenue on overhead and fundraising costs
- Organizations that discriminate against people on the basis of age, race, creed, gender, handicap, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or national origin
- Staff positions for government agencies
- Requests to fund publications, or audio or video productions, unless they serve as supporting materials to a project within the focus of the funding source
- Requests to support travel for groups or individuals when that is the primary reason for the proposal

Pre-Application Information:

Grant and sponsorship requests currently are accepted on a rolling basis through the application portal. Big Lots Foundation staff will notify nonprofits directly with the determination within 90 days. Please do not phone for status of your request.

Fall - Winter Request deadline:
July 2, 2018 at Midnight PST
Organizations will be notified of their application status in September 2018.

Spring - Summer Request deadline:
January 1, 2019 at Midnight PST
Organizations will be notified of their application status in March 2019.

Support is provided in the form of monetary gifts, gift cards, and merchandise in-kind. The Foundation receives a very high volume of requests. Only the most competitive of those will be considered. Fewer will be funded.

All applications must be submitted through the online portal. Faxed, mailed or emailed requests will not be considered.